Weighty Matters

With the holidays on the horizon, we'll all shortly be faced with the dilemma of whether to indulge in calorie-laden desserts—and risk the heavy consequences. When deciding which decadent treats are worth the waistline damage, consider the strategy of MeMe Roth, a controversial antiobesity activist we interviewed ("MeMe Roth's War") for the January issue of ELLE who got us thinking about weight, health, and the nature-versus-nurture debate:

Most Popular

"I allow myself my `tens,' " she says. She consistently shuns sweets such as birthday cake and ice cream, "sixes, sevens" on her scale of desirability, things she can do without, so that once or twice a year, she can indulge in the things she absolutely adores, her "tens," such as tiramisu, or her favorite handmade chocolate-coconut Easter eggs, or even, gasp, a Coke.

(Photo courtesy of National Action Against Obesity)

Here's what else we learned about Roth's views:

The crux of Roth's campaign is that obesity is a health issue—"I'm tired of debating it; being overweight is bad," she says—and in that regard, Roth certainly isn't the only person freaking out about our nation's expanding waistline.

"The average couple puts on 25 pounds each in the first five years of marriage. Now, you can choose to grow old and fat together, but women pay a higher price," she cautions.

Last year on Fox News, after Jordin Sparks won American Idol, Roth called the size 12 teenager overweight and a bad role model. When photos of Jennifer Love Hewitt's dimpled butt in a bikini appeared in the tabloids, Roth proclaimed it a wake-up call for American women—if Love Hewitt has cellulite, imagine how bad the rest of us look!

Overweight and obesity exist on a continuum, and one of the problems, Roth believes, is that women are in denial. "Unless they're morbidly obese, most people don't think they're in trouble," she says.

In an age when it's politically correct to celebrate "real women" who "have real curves," to quote the Dove campaign, Roth breaks through the media's feel-good-about-your-shape mantra and calls a pound a pound.